Noma Bar’s graphic works of art are deceptively simple. Sharp and unadorned, their purity belies the philosophy behind them, and the cheeky double-take they provoke.
In a clever play on that premise, the Israeli illustrator has invented a deceptively complicated machine to cut out the negative space from his designs - the white silhouettes that deliver his punchlines. For the duration of the London Design Festival, Bar will man the six-foot behemoth he calls the Dog (a visual trick itself, as the negative space in the machine’s mouth forms the contour of a canine) at the Soho gallery Outline Editions. Throughout the exhibit (called Cut It Out in a classic Bar double entendre) visitors can commission their own versions of Bar’s works, which the Dog will then process from paper, wood, even rubber. Each limited-edition work, priced between £15 and £300, will be signed by the artist.
If the Outline exhibition - which runs until 30 September - drives you to outright groupie-dom, you can visit Wallpaper’s stand at 100% Design for more from the comic illustrator. To celebrate our October Guest Editors issue - in which masters of sound and vision Kraftwerk and Christian Marclay take the controls - we have commissioned him to create a series of additional works of art, just for you. All those that subscribe to Wallpaper* at 100% Design (where we’ll be offering 50% off a year’s subscription) will have the chance to win one of five exclusive Sound & Vision artworks by Bar. If luck isn’t on your side, however, you can also buy works by the artist at the fair.
